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Rega Elicit R phono stage

Luke,

I have advised the guys that you will be in at some point, so Rupert, Daniel and Fraser will take care of you.

Best,

PD
So I went into James Morrow this afternoon and they reckon my Elicit R is fine, so no need to send back to the factory. Anyway, I ended up demoing and then buying an Aria!
 
Ismanley,

Sorry for, what became, the expensive "guidance" ;-) but glad all is OK,

Enjoy your Aria,

Best,

PD
Cheers Paul, I'm looking forward to getting it once it's delivered.

One question, should I just plug it into say line input one on my Elicit R? I reason I ask is that in the literature for the Elicit R, it says the phono stage input can be switched to a line input, and that this is isolated and therefore superior to the other line inputs. Obviously I'd rather not use this input anymore now that I don't have to, but if it's better than an ordinary line input I'd like to in an ideal world. So being that I'll be using the Aria now anyway, is there any sonic benefit to switching the phono stage input to a line input and plugging the Aria into that input, or just plugging the Aria into one of the normal line inputs?

Thanks.

Luke
 
I currently have a Yamaha AS-801, a RP6/Exact and a Fono MM. I’m considering trying an Elex-R and am wondering how its phono stage compares to the Fono MM. being able to get rid of the external phono stage would push me in the Elicit-R direction.

thanks!
 
Me personally, would keep the Fono MM, separate unit, better power supply rather than the shared one (not that there’s anything wrong with that) it’s just me
 
So, sorry to come back to this old thread. Is there anyone who has actually compared the in-built phono stage in the Elicit R to the external Fono? I know Rega say it's better but I guess we'd expect that to be said. Any real life comparisons?
 
I've no direct experience comparing these two, however, something to consider here is that, according to the designer of both components, TB (with comments having been passed along by PD), Fono MM is intended to be superior to the MM stages within any of the integrated amps. No specific details have been forthcoming, however, one can surmise via a combination of what has been published and what can be seen.

"The Fono MM MK5 uses a fully discrete, cascaded, complementary amplifier input stage, a configuration designed to optimise the performance of your moving magnet cartridge."​

The above isn't meant to suggest that the whole stage is fully discrete, as, like those within the integrated amps, there is an op-amp present, only the input stage employs discrete circuitry. The same can be said about those within the integrated amps, only there is one major distinguishing factor that isn't mentioned, but which can easily be seen under the hood of Fono MM, specifically, a not just dedicated, but also regulated power supply. Fono takes 24VAC in via the supplied wall-wart adapter but then regulates this further via an internal supply that includes 2 x reservoir capacitors plus a voltage regulator circuit, the latter not unlike those used in Naim and Exposure power supplies, all located well away from the discrete input stage (considering the small space within).

Rega Fono VER#2 ISS3 PCB pictured below. Easier to identify components than with the later SMT board(s). Note RE63 looks like it says 'REG3'.
I9ORkol.jpg
 
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